Nine construction workers were rescued Saturday after having been trapped for two days in a collapsed railway tunnel in southwest China's Yunnan Province, rescuers said.

Rescuers managed to dig a passageway to reach the workers at about 10:45 a.m. Saturday. The first worker was rescued at about 12:43 p.m. and eight minutes later, all had been rescued, rescue officials said.

All the workers are in stable condition.

The tunnel in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture they were working on collapsed at about 10:20 a.m. Thursday.

After digging a small opening through the rubble, rescuers managed to contact the workers with the help of a thin pipe and confirmed that all the workers were alive Friday. They even installed a mobile phone signal amplifier to help them keep in contact.

Later the workers were offered food three times.

More than 230 workers were involved in the rescue operation by excavating small tunnels or larger passageways in four directions.

The tunnel is part of a railway that connects Yuxi and Mohan in Yunnan.

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